We’re a nation desperately in need of a Magna Carta moment

On June 15, 1215, King John sealed the document known as the Magna Carta at Runnymede. He didn’t really have much of a choice; the alternative would have been a rebellion by the barons against his lawless, arbitrary and corrupt use of the Crown’s power — particularly in the area of taxation.

In doing so he set a legal precedent that changed the world overnight: even kings have to obey the law. That concept — the rule of law, not kings — has formed the bedrock of free societies for the past 800 years. Which is why it seems so strange to have to debate the principle again in the democratic West, in Canada, in 2015.

And yet, in the actions of the Harper government we see all too many instances of powerful people trying to set themselves above the law. How else can one read an attempt by the government to hide inside a massive omnibus budget bill a law that would retroactively invalidate an investigation into unlawful conduct by the RCMP — an attempt to re-write the application of the law in the past?

What are we to think when the prime minister’s office, the highest in the land, colludes with supposedly independent members of the Senate in an attempt to alter an independent audit by an outside accounting firm of senators’ allegedly improper expenses?

When the federal government prohibits donations to political parties by corporations and trade unions with the aim of preventing big money from stealing elections — and then spends millions of dollars in public money on thinly-disguised political ads — can that be interpreted as anything but a gesture of contempt for the law?

When a government’s abuse of power is laughed off as a ‘loophole’, a mere detail, we’re watching the foundations being laid for arbitrary government — the kind of government the Magna Carta was supposed to free us from.

When a government elected on a promise of accountability and transparency works to undermine every independent officer of Parliament charged with keeping the government open and transparent (the nuclear safety commissioner, the parliamentary budget officer, the chief military police complaints commissioner, the acting privacy commissioner and, most recently, the correctional investigator), is it exercising power on the people’s behalf, or merely to trash its enemies and settle scores?

The next person on the Harper government’s hit list is almost certain to be Suzanne Legault. The federal information commissioner had recommended that charges be laid against the RCMP for destroying records from the federal long-gun registry, violating the access-to-information laws. In a stunning show of disdain for the rule of law, the Harper government slipped legislation into the massive budget bill to retroactively erase the RCMP’s culpability — hoping nobody would notice.

Legault showed great courage when she went to the media to point out the obvious: if a government can get away with this now, any government would be permitted to wipe out illegal acts after the fact — to declare by legal fiat that the crime wasn’t a crime, even if it was. Harper and his ministers have been dismissing Legault’s complaint as a lot of fuss about the closing of a legal “loophole”.

That’s how it starts. When a government’s abuse of power is laughed off as a “loophole”, a mere detail, we’re watching the foundations being laid for arbitrary government — for government operating outside the rule of law. The kind of government the Magna Carta was supposed to free us from.

The retroactive gun registry law, the abuse of the public purse for partisan advertising, the PMO’s meddling in the Senate audit — what ties all of these acts together is the pernicious idea that powerful people obey the law only as long as it’s convenient for them to do so. In these acts by the Harper government we see the very same arrogant abuse of power, the same corruption, that drags down nations which are not free.

The Magna Carta is the foundation of the British parliamentary system and, through that system’s legacy, of free societies around the world. In Canada, in 2015, we’re seeing that foundation being torn down, brick by brick.

Errol P. Mendes is a professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Ottawa and is editor in chief of the National Journal of Constitutional Law, the leading Canadian journal of constitutional and human rights law, founded in 1982.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

22 comments on “We’re a nation desperately in need of a Magna Carta moment”

Prince/King John’s brother, Richard the Lionheart, was off at the Crusades around this time.

Not much has changed in 800 years. Harper the Chickenheart still wears a vest emblazoned with the cross of St George, and is happy to send other people’s children to fight in hyped-up political and religious wars in Europe and the Middle East.

Since canada is an all volunteer army, these so called other peoples children signed up for their military profession. If you ask them they will tell you “their role is not to practise democracy but to defend it” They go where they are ordered, as that is their profession. perhaps you would prefer we do not send them anywhere, let them parade around on the basses in shiny equipment, and let the taliban and jihadis come to Canada to ply their brand of freedom on us. Fight them over there or fight them here.

Prince/King John’s brother, Richard the Lionheart, was off at the Crusades around this time.

Not much has changed in 800 years. Harper the Chickenheart still wears a vest emblazoned with the cross of St George, and is happy to send other people’s children to fight in hyped-up political and religious wars in Europe and the Middle East.

With Harper there would not have been a Magna Carta. He’d have just refused to meet with the Barons at all, and would have declared all that “rights and liberties crap” to be — obviously — their problem, not his, maybe even a “no brainer”.

In any case i’ve stopped listening to HARPER THE LIAR it always turns out he does what ever he want and DOESN’T LISTEN TO ANYBODY else after the election . He becomes a DICTATOR FOR 5 YEARS and subverses all our institution one by one and our rights are going as well.How CAN WE TRUST a man WHO LIE ALL THE TIME and gets VINDICTIVE towards the poor, the unemployed, the charities, the scientist, the media, and any one who stand in his way; thats called FASCISM; a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizingan aggressive nationalism and often racism.

I think at the point where we are now in this country, many Canadians (I included) simply want a return to respect for Parliament, respect for knowledge and science. Respect for democracy. Period. Enough of the Karl Rove divisive tactics. This is Canada. Not the US.

You can have all the magna carta moments you can fill your boots with. RThgere is no mechanism in place to prevent tyranny from taking place. The US derived its laws from the same pkace Canada did. The Magna Carta, BNA, Blackstones Copmmentaries. The US was born in violence as they rose up against the king and taxation without reopesentation etc we know the hostory and the story. canada was not born in violence , and as such we do not have the rights the US has to a armed militia. While we have the right to armes for defence, those arms are subject to the approval of the king. You see Kings do not want to go to bed at night wondering if the subject will revolt and wake up in the morning finding a gallows being built in the palace court yard.. So really folks wish for all the magna carta moments you want, rave about Steve-o, Trudeau will be no different and Angry Tom will still be angry if he gets in. What we are heading for are the rule of men, and not the rule of laws. Think folks think.

I think if any government breaks one of our laws should automate a stepping down if its done by them personally, and a re-election if it is done by the governing body in power. Anyone who has committed a crime and hasn’t served their time for it shouldn’t be permitted to run for government. The current government in power wouldn’t be here now if that were the case. This sort of thing shouldn’t be tolerated by Canadians or our Legal System.